Morgan County teens highlight danger of drugs, alcohol in painting

Presenters talk about various concerns

By DAN BARKER Times News Editor

Posted:
05/01/2013 10:28:02 AM MDT

Updated:
05/01/2013 04:31:55 PM MDT

Ratha Sok of Denver represented the Colorado Meth Project during the Art in the Park event in Fort Morgan's City Park. He taught local kids how to use spray paint for a productive purpose.
(Dan Barker/Fort Morgan Times)

Wall-sized panels dotted Fort Morgan's City Park Saturday as local teenagers showcased spray paint art on the theme of Healthy and Positive Alternatives to Drugs and Alcohol during the first Art in the Park event.

Organized by the Morgan County Youth Council -- a partnership of local agencies such as the Workforce Center, the 13th Judicial District's probation department, Morgan Community College, a pretrial program called SB94, the Morgan County Interagency Oversight Group, the Colorado Division of Rehabilitation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Solutions program -- in conjunction with the Colorado Meth Project, the day was meant to show young people ways to enjoy life without drugs.

Ruben Vazquez, 18, of Fort Morgan works on a painting of a bear and dreamcatcher as his part of the Art in the park event, which stressed staying off drugs. He said the dreamcatcher expressed dealing with the nightmares of addiction.
(Dan Barker/Fort Morgan Times)

Local teens submitted plans for how they would paint the panels, and 10 were chosen to make the displays, said Tony Anderson, a labor and employment specialist at the Workforce Center.

Noted Denver artist Rather Sock came to town earlier to train the kids in how to use spray paint to complete their artistic visions during a workshop.

He said his main task was to show the teens basic spray painting technique, which is quite different from other painting media and styles, and how to put the ideas on 4' by 8' plywood panels.

Sock does murals in the Denver area.

Anderson said the meth project donated all the art supplies and hired Sock as an advisor.

The art project also had funding from the Morgan County Community Service program.

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Some people chose to pay a fee when they receive community service sentences instead of working them off, and that money is used for programs.

The theme for the art was deliberately open-ended, so the artists could create their own interpretations, Anderson said.

Ruben Vazquez, 18, of Fort Morgan did a piece that had the head of a bear over a dreamcatcher, and the bear sporting antlers.

The bear represented sobriety, and the dreamcatcher symbolized dealing with the nightmares of addiction, he said.

Teenagers expressed themselves, and the message to stay off drugs and alcohol during the Art in the Park event Saturday at Fort Morgan's City Park.
(Dan Barker/Fort Morgan Times)

The antlers were a kind of crown for sobriety.

Other art was more abstract, but the messages were clear.

Speakers from the Fort Morgan Police Department, the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, the Gang Rescue and Support Project and the Colorado State Patrol talked about various topics related to teens.

Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone talked about the dangers of prescription medication abuse.

Most of the drug overdoses in Morgan County come when people misuse prescription medications such as pain killers, he said.

Over the past few years, about 20 deaths were caused by prescription overdose in Morgan County. Some of those were deliberate suicides, but most were accidents by recreational users, Crone said.

Young people spent much of Saturday at Fort Morgan's City Park spray painting creations that had the theme of "Healthy and Positive Alternatives to Drugs and Alcohol."
(Dan Barker/Fort Morgan Times)

Abuse of over-the-counter medicines like cough syrup is also a major cause of fatality and injury, he said.

Teens also sometimes go to parties where unidentified pills are handed out, which can be very dangerous, Crone said.

Taking unknown drugs is like "playing Russian roulette," he said.

While the artists were at work, recorded music rang out over the public address system downtown. That was organized by the Morgan County Youth Advisory Council, a group of teens who help guide the area's youth outreach, Anderson said.

Anderson noted that the art project could not have happened without the support of the city of Fort Morgan, and particularly Brent Nation.